Voter registration deadline is Tuesday, Oct. 9

HARRISBURG (AP) — Time is running out for Pennsylvanians who want to vote but are not registered.

Tuesday, Oct. 9 is the deadline for registering to vote in the Nov. 6 election that features races for president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, the three statewide offices and most of the seats in the state General Assembly.

Residents can register to vote at their county voter registration office or at many other government agencies. They also can download a registration form from the Internet. More information is available at the State Department website: www.votespa.com.

Want to register but don’t know how? Choose the “How to Register” option from the VotesPA site. Registration forms are available online here or at your local PennDOT office, Armed Forces recruiting center or local court house as well as area Agencies on Aging.

In this year’s general election, poll workers across the state are required to ask voters to show photo identification, but voters will be allowed to cast ballots even if they do not have it thanks to a ruling by the state Commonwealth Court.

A law requiring voters to have specific types of photo ID — and requiring voters without acceptable IDs to cast provisional ballots — was enacted earlier this year. But Judge Robert Simpson halted parts of the law on grounds that some voters could be disenfranchised because the state had not done enough to make it possible for all voters to easily get IDs before the election.

Under a separate law that remains in effect, people voting in a polling place for the first time are required to show identification. Photo IDs, such as a Pennsylvania driver’s license are acceptable but not required. Voters can satisfy the requirement with nonphoto forms of identification, including a paycheck, a bank statement or a firearm permit.